The Oncoming Storm
by My Fleeting Touch
Summary: In some places, being a Pokemon Trainer isn't a good thing. Especially in Raeonn, where Pokemon trainers are scorned and becoming one is viewed as a punishment. Jaye Falconer must lead the Rebellion against these ways and put her past behind her. OCxOC T
1. Chapter 1

The oncoming storm  
_The Legend of the Storm_

Written by My Fleeting Touch.  
(My Fleeting Touch does not own Pokemon)

* * *

I've heard stories of places where Pokemon Trainers are respected.

I can't imagine what it'd feel like, to have normal citizens smile at you and greet you happily, to not have to pay twice the amount to get what a normal person could get. I've always grown up in a place where Pokemon Trainers were despised and scorned, where you can't even walk though a city without upsetting at least one person.

So even if these stories are true, it didn't matter here, because things never change in Raeonn. The only story people used to care about was the Legend of the Storm, but even that is forgotten now. It is a legend, telling of a resistance of pokemon trainers, rebelling against the source of the prejudice within the people, and changing Raeonn forever – but such a story can never come true.

Every day, another pokemon trainer or a person associated with a pokemon trainer would disappear. Less people are willing to aid the trainers these days; they'd prefer to keep their heads down so that they don't get hurt.

I don't blame them.

I'm Jaye Falconer, a Pokemon trainer myself, I've been one for about five years now and I've managed to escape the claws of the crime syndicate that runs Raeonn so many times that I've lost count. The prejudice, the hateful glares, the disappearances, it's enough to drive hope out of one's heart completely.

So those stories about other regions, I don't believe them.

* * *

"_Jaye Falconer," my stomach squirmed as the head of Oakroot town called out my name during the town meeting in a cold, clear voice. This could only be a bad thing. It wasn't my fault that Mr. Jacobs' well caught alight when I walked past, or that Mrs. Kale's magikarp tried to suffocate itself by jumping out of the pond when I was trying to put Mr. Jon's goldeen back into the water. My mother clutched my arm in fear. "Jaye Falconer!"_

_I slowly loosened my mother's grip on me and stumbled to the front, where the head, Mr. Lore, was giving me a glare which could freeze a charmander. "Yes?" I tried not to sound defensive, but failed._

"_Jaye Falconer, it had come to our knowledge that ever since your birth, which was a grave mistake in itself," he shot a glare at my mother, "That you have only wrought destruction and trouble on our town." His voice dropped to a harsh whisper that was only meant for my ears, "I should've gotten rid of you from the very start, I should've known you'd be exactly like your father, a trouble-maker. Therefore, I only find it fitting that you should follow in your father's footsteps." His voice rose again, "From this day forth, Jaye Falconer," I saw the blood drain from my mother's face, "You shall be exiled to become a Pokemon trainer."_

"_No!"_

_

* * *

_

"Jaye," a familiar voice broke through my dream as I tossed on the grass of the Asper Forest. "Jaye, you are too close to Asper City, if they find you you're gone."

I shot up, "Archer?" I glanced around, but there was no one but my pokemon and myself. My flareon, Scorch, rose his head warily, but Archer had to be here, _he had to be_! "Archer! Where are you?"

"Get out of here, Jaye," his voice came again, from everywhere around me, from the murmur of the trees, from the rustle of the grass, "_Get out!_"

I scrambled for my pack and stuff, Scorch was swiftly by my side, growling. They were here – the crime syndicate were in the forest. I clenched back a panicked whimper and quickly darted away, drowning out the yells of surprise. "Quickly Scorch, quickly!" The treeline was disappearing quickly, I glanced behind me – if they were too close, they'd spot me escaping and that'd be the end of it. I had to stop them, fast.

"Scorch, ember!" My flareon spun and let out a burst of flame, creating a line of fire across the path.

"Dammit! She's getting away!"

As I reached the edge of the forest, a hand suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into a dark cave. I panicked, "Let me go! _Let me go!_" A sudden yelp of pain told me that Scorch had found his target and sunk his teeth into their hand. I stumbled to the ground.

"Your flareon has got a bit of a bite," a dissatisfied voice came from the darkness.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I was back on my feet, holding up my fists, I couldn't let my guard down again.

"Relax," a laugh came from the darkness, "I'm on your side, I'm part of the Resistance."

"Never heard of any 'Resistance'," I growled, "Now let me go free or I'll have Scorch bite you again, or burn you."

A nervous laugh came again, "And let you go out there to become captured by those guys? I don't think so. Pokemon trainers help each other do they not?"

"All of those who I've met seemed rather concerned in helping themselves," I said snidely, "Except one or two, doesn't matter now, they're gone."

"How long ago was the last time you saw one," the voice asked calmly.

"About six months, when," six months ago, all those painful memories, those rocks falling to separate me and, "look, this is none of your business, now let me go."

"A lot can change in six months," the stranger passed a stick to me, "Here, have your flareon light this, and I'll show you what I'm talking about."

I stared into the darkness warily, before having Scorch light the stick, in front of me stood a man and I couldn't hold myself back from whispering, "Archer?"

The man was confused though, and as I brought the light closer to his face I could see that he wasn't him, "Archer? No, I'm Kyle Ryan. Pokemon trainer, and part of the Resistance," he held out a hand.

I took it and shook it, "Jaye Falconer, Pokemon trainer and I like being on my own."

He stared right back into my eyes, "Is that really true though, Jaye?" There was a pause where I glared at him before he went on, "I've heard about you though, been on the run from the crime syndicate for ages. There is quite a bounty on your head and…" he raised his eyebrows, "Archer Hawken's head as well."

"Archer is dead," I replied a bit too quickly, "He was a fool."

Kyle sighed, "Shame really. The Resistance was quite eager to have the two rebels, not just the one. Now come with me, I've got something show you."

"I've heard rumours," I started cautiously, walking behind him, "Of the Pokemon trainers starting to rebel."

"So you didn't cut yourself off from civilisation completely for six months then?" he looked at me in amusement. I scowled, six months wasn't long enough.

"I've heard a little on my travels," I retorted, "Is it true then?" He chuckled again, which was answer enough for me. "Why now?"

"You were a bit of an inspiration," Kyle told me, "you and Archer," he glanced at me before continuing, "Causing trouble wherever you went, not standing for any prejudice, it was like the disappearances weren't having any affect on you two like it was the rest of us. But then six months ago, it stopped and two of you disappeared. We feared that the crime syndicate had gotten to you, so we decided to set up an organization that would rebel against the syndicate and free Raeonn. But they didn't get you," he looked at me, "And they didn't get Archer."

"They _did _get him!" I couldn't help it any longer, "They _killed him!_ He's basically the same as 'disappeared', Kyle, but he has no chance of returning!"

"But he isn't on their side, Jaye! Whenever someone disappears, it means that they're worth something or have some valuable information. They won't be able to get that information now," Kyle said fiercely. "He may be gone Jaye, but his death has protected us, protected _you._"

"I don't need protecting!" I shouted.

Kyle said nothing, just stared at me, before putting the torch on a holder and pointing towards a hole with light shining through it. "We're here," he muttered. Trembling, I walked towards the hole and found myself standing on a ledge about a huge open cavern, light streaming through a hole in the roof, and all around the cavern people were trading, training their pokemon, battling, harvesting, talking and so much more. I stared down in amazement.

"No way," I breathed, I'd never seen so many trainers together at one time, "No way."

If only Archer had been here to see this…

"Welcome to the headquarters of the resistance," Kyle said, "At the moment, we're underground and the closest town is Willowwood, who supports the resistance. We are also trying to find a place close to Juniper City, as they are also supporters and they have a lot of resources for us."

"Willowwood? That means we're close to Oakroot as well! I could check up on my mother, I could bring her down here! She could be safe!" But Kyle shook his head.

"If your mother suddenly goes missing, people will suspect something. Oakroot doesn't want to have anything to do with us, Jaye, I'm sorry."

"But what if the crime syndicate gets to her!" I pleaded, "Please, Kyle."

"That is a fear many of us have to face everyday, Jaye," his face was as hard as stone, "We have to put our families behind us."

I thought of my mother, all alone, wondering if her daughter was ever going to come home. I sighed and dropped the matter. It was my fault that she ended up alone in the first place, and it was my fault that Archer died, all alone under those life crushing rocks.

* * *

-Somewhere in Raeonn-

I chuckled darkly as I took a sip from my wine glass. Finally, we'd found the little run away girl, Jaye Falconer - finally we were getting somewhere. We'd find her and then we'd make her spill all she knew and turn her over to our side, but not until she had had a long time to catch up with her best pal.

"Bring out our guest," I gestured to the guard on my left, "He'd want to hear the good news." I grinned, casually pushing back my hair as my shoe tapped against the marble floor. It'd been some time since I had seen our dear visitor, I wondered if he still had the same defiance pulsing through him, all that fierce hatred.

Chains clanged against the marble floor, and there was a groan of pain as the guards threw the boy to the floor in front of me. His body was shaking with the effort to keep his pride. His straight brown hair was dark with sweat as I guessed he had recently fought off another bout of fever. His blue-green eyes burnt with the desire to kill me. I tutted, "Your prison guard tells me you haven't been eating your meals again. It's such a shame that even when you're sick, you refuse to eat. Is that any way to treat the food that your host prepares for you?"

"You call that food?" he spat back, beside him, his equally imprisoned Jolteon growled, to which my Mightyena answered warningly.

"I'm sure you've eaten worse on your travels," I examined my wine glass. "You aren't going to get any stronger if you don't eat the food."

"I refuse to be fed like a poochyena by my enemy!" he exclaimed.

"Are you forgetting who saved your life?" I lowered my voice dangerously.

"I was better off dying there than being chained up by people like you!"

"And I can end it just as easily, you are at my mercy, but I'm not like the one who abandoned you to die," I watched in amusement as the boy's eyes flared with despair, the next thing I knew, I was against a wall, his hand closed around my throat, his eyes sparking with venom.

"Don't you dare bring that into this," his voice dripped with hatred, "I will kill you."

A yelp behind him had informed me that my Mightyena had grabbed his Jolteon, I watched as the boy flinched. Such a connection with his pokemon was amazing. I chuckled, pushing him away from me, "I'm surprised you still have so much energy in you, but I guess that is no longer the case." He sank to the ground, shaking harder than before. "But, as you might have guessed, I hadn't called you out here to talk about food or life debts."

He froze as I continued, I spent my time enjoying every effect my words were having on him, "We've found your little girlfriend, after all these months, we've finally found the little run away girl. I had almost given up hope of ever finding her."

"No," he sunk even lower if possible and lowered his head into his shaking hands, "No, no, no."

Chuckling, I bent down in front of him, "Come on now, you know her name, the guard says you whisper it in your cell. _Say it._"

"_Jaye_," he sobbed into his hands, "Oh Jaye."

"There we go, that wasn't so hard was it now? I don't intend to let the little bird escape again, this time, I _will _capture her," I returned to my chair, my shoes clicking on the marble floor, "And _you_ will help me. Can you imagine it? The duo, Jaye Falconer and Archer Hawken, together again."

"_No!_" his anguished cry lit up the room.

* * *

"May I introduce," Kyle began, addressing the Resistance ring leaders, "Jaye Falconer."

They were a rather interesting bunch of people; a girl in complete black, a rather manly, well-built man, an old cloaked man, a boy about two years older than me with blue hair, and a gorgeous woman dressed in a blue dress. The girl just stared at me, and then at Kyle and then back at me again, "Is she one of us then?"

The well-built man laughed, he seemed like the alright sort, "Yes Halie, she's one of us." He grinned at me, "Welcome to the pack, Jaye, I'm Kevin, rock and fighting is my style of pokemon. Ghost girl here, Halie, takes charge of dark and ghost pokemon. The old man, 'Old man Kon' we call him, takes care of normal and bug pokemon. The boy with the blue hair, Neo, likes his dragon pokemon – he's got a bit of a temper too." Neo scowled. "And Aoi is in charge of ice and water, and then there's…"

"Me," Kyle chimed in, "I can introduce myself, thanks Kev, I'm Kyle and I have the flying pokemon."

I stared at him, "You never told me you were one of the leaders! I had always assumed you were a scout."

He grinned cheekily, "Scouting is part of my job."

"Then there's you, Jaye," Kevin went on, "You'll be the ring-leader in charge of fire."

"You're rather quick to assume that I'd like to join your happy little group," I said a bit fiercely. "I like to train all kinds of Pokemon thank you very much."

He laughed, "Indeed, but you've mastered training your fire pokemon. You'll join us, Jaye, you've been away from human company for far too long."

I growled, knowing I had been defeated, "You haven't got all the types though. There is still ground, psychic and…" I paused, trying to remember the other one.

"Electric," Kyle completed for me, "Ground basically goes into Kev's department and psychic is pretty much Halie's. But electric," he paused, looking away ashamedly, "We'd hoped that we could find both of you."

I stood there shell-shocked, that's right, electric had been Archer's favourite. I was brought back to those times when we'd fight together as a team, Jolteon and Flareon, it hit me that that combination wouldn't happen again. Even if I did meet someone with a Jolteon, it wouldn't be the same. "Guess you'll have to find someone else then," I murmured.

Kev clapped his hand onto my shoulder, "Don't worry, Jaye, we'll hold a proper memorial service for him here in the cavern. It'll make it easier for you to move on."

It was true, ever since that catastrophe in the cave, all I had been doing is running – I hadn't had time to give him a proper send off. I hadn't wanted to, somewhere in deep inside me there was the hope that he was still alive, that he'd pop out of nowhere and grin like nothing had happened.

Whenever I closed my eyes he would be there, right beside me, whispering into my ear. Fear clutched me, what if that voice disappeared – that voice that warned me of danger, comforted me when I was all alone, wandering Raeonn with not destination in mind. When Archer died, my destination had died with him. What if that voice disappeared? "No," I whispered, "No, don't let me be alone."

Kev was confused, "You won't be alone, Jaye, you've got us now. You can't keep on holding on to something in the past forever."

"No! I won't let you take him away from me!" I shouted.

Kev motioned to Kyle, "She's stressing herself out, get to it."

Kyle grabbed me, his Pidgeot restraining Scorch, I gasped and struggled, "Let me _go_, Kyle! Let me go! Don't side with them!"

"I'm sorry, Jaye," he muttered into my ear.

"Listen to me, Jaye Falconer," Kev bent down to meet my eyes, "A lot of Pokemon trainers come here with a past they can't let go of. We make sure that they all let go of it so they can focus on their job. Some throw tantrums, like you are, but you should ask around, their lives are better now that they've let go. Your job now is to lead this resistance along with us, and if Archer is getting in the way of you completing that job properly, then you are better off without him."

"No!"

Kev sighed, "I hate it when it comes to this. Put her light out, Kyle."

The next thing I knew, something hit me on the temple lightly and my vision started the cloud and blacked, but I had to force out my words before I was out to it completely, "Kyle, you are a traitor."

* * *

End Chapter 1.

Author's Note:

Ah ma gad, it's been far too long since I've written a fanfiction :\ I'm just lazy and then I get mind block and then .

Yep.

So, I've always liked the idea of there being a place where Pokemon trainers aren't accepted so readily – because that is the way society is. (i.e. Hating of the non-conformists.) And I like the idea of having to fight for something, whether it be freedom or love or whatever.

So yeah, oh yeah, I used flareon as Jaye's character because I've always like flareon, even since I was like a little kid. So yeah, let's hope I can keep this fanfiction on going.

Please read and review. Reviews bring hope.

~MFT


	2. Chapter 2

_My head hung, unspoken sobs beating at my throat._

_Exiled. It wasn't like I wasn't expecting it – the older people always whispered about me whenever I was near and shot me snooty glares. Mothers tried to keep their curious children away from me. There were only one or two kids in the town who weren't scared to be with me. The first was my best friend, Amy Shepard, her parents weren't around most of the time so she would come to stay at my house. She was small, sweet, and mouse-like - the exact opposite of myself._

_The second was a rude jerk, Archer Hawken – he liked to make teasing me his favourite activity. He was just about as bad as I was, but it strangely comforted me that someone could tease me like a normal person. He was called up to the front of the meeting to be denounced as a pokemon trainer as well. He stood next to me, his head held high in defiance, his hands casually hung in his pockets, his eyes glaring at the head of the town._

_Almost straight away, the two of the dragged away to get a pokemon from the professor, who was Archer's father, "You have nothing to afraid of, your father won't stand for this. My father isn't even here." I muttered to him, resentfully._

_Weirdly enough, he shot me a slightly bitter grin, "My father says, becoming a pokemon trainer is nothing to be ashamed, he'll be overjoyed." My heart quenched in some sort of pity for him. "That aside, I suppose you're my rival now," his grin turned evil, "What a fitting title. Rival."_

_I glared, "Do we have to be rivals?"_

_He laughed, "Pokemon trainers always come in pairs, as rivals, or haven't you heard the stories? My father used to be a pokemon trainer," he cast me a side-long glance, "He was your father's rival. It must run in the family, eh, Falconer?"_

"_My father was a trainer?" I asked, wide-eyed._

_He frowned, "Your mother never told you?"_

"_No, I just thought that he left us because he had no morals," I whispered._

"_Well, no," he shook his head, "My father always tells me stories about his adventures with your father and so on."_

"_Does he know where-," I was cut off my Archer's father._

"_Welcome, welcome!" He pushed us into his lab, "Both on your way to become trainers eh? Good, good."_

"_Excuse me, Professor Hawken," I said, his jolly attitude about the whole situation was starting to piss me off, "But we're being exiled. Your son is getting exiled! You may never be able to see him again, doesn't that bother you?"_

"_Oi," Archer started angrily, his face turning red._

_But Professor Hawken just laughed, "Every boy has to leave home one day. It'll be a chance for him to actually grow up," he gave his son a stern look, "Now, here you go, your pokemon."_

_He handed us both pokeballs, took a picture of both of us standing there in bewilderment and pushed us outside his lab, dumping a backpack into Archer's arms, he grinned, "Have fun, kids!"_

_The lab door shut and I glanced at Archer, he was shouldering his bag, to which, I frowned, I should get a bag too. He looked at me, "Ready to get going, _rival?_" _

_I shrugged, irritated, "You can go ahead if you want, I want to get a bag first."_

"_Suit yourself, want to check out our pokemon first?" _

_I blinked, "Okay, on three, two, one." We both released the pokemon in our pokeballs, I was praying that it was something amazingly strong, like a charizard. _

_Instead, two eevees blinked up cutely at us. I stood there in shock, an _eevee?_ Next thing I knew, Archer was pounding on the door of the lab demanding to have a real pokemon. I sighed, "Wait, stupid, remember that eevees have heaps of evolution forms? He's giving us quite a wide range to choose from with this little pokemon." I picked up my eevee, "And they're kind of cute."_

_Before Archer could complete his, "I don't care about cu-," statement, my eevee hit me across the face with a paw, glaring at me. Archer cracked up, "Hahaha, I guess _he_ didn't like being called cute!" He picked up his own eevee, "You guys prefer being called strong and manly, don't you?" His eevee blinked in confusion, and gave a rather girly 'eevee?' in response. I snorted._

"_Right, so I have the boy and you have the girl," I grinned, "Great."_

_He glared at me, "Just you wait, Jaye, I will train my eevee into an electrifying Jolteon and we'll show you just who is the best. Isn't that right, Spark?" _

_I blinked, "You're going to nickname her?"_

"_Yeah, why not? Better than being called eevee all the time,"_

"_Alright, I'll guess I'll name you," I stared into my eevee's eyes, "Scorch. I'll train you into a Flareon because Flareons are the best."_

_

* * *

_

I woke to the smell of incense; my throat was as dry as parchment.

I sat myself up and a girl beside me looked at me quizzically, "Water," I croaked, "I need water." She nodded and sped off. I glanced around myself, coughing; I was in a little cavern at the base of the large cavern. Kyle sat slumped against the wall opposite me – he looked tired, his green eyes were staring straight back into my own. I decided to ignore him. The girl came back with the water and I sipped it slowly.

"You were talking in your sleep last night," Kyle started suddenly, "You said the name, 'Amy Shepard'." I looked at him, still bitter of yesterday's events. "I know someone called Amy Shepard," he said slightly eagerly, hoping to get a reaction out of me.

I rolled my eyes, "Amy Shepard is a common name."

"She's my cousin," he explained, "She followed me from Oakroot, when I stopped there shortly before coming here."

"Where is she?" I wondered if she had forgiven me for leaving without saying goodbye.

"Let me take you to her," he held out a hand, which I ignored.

The stroll took about five minutes, before we reached a little clearing on the opposite side of the cavern, it had grass growing in it. I spotted her almost immediately, short black hair, creamy white skin, small stature, but Kyle watched as I just stood there silently before sighing, "Amy!" Amy's head shot up, before she made her way over to us.

"Kyle," she greeted him warmly, "Rumour has it, you've found another one for your little leadership team. I heard she was a bit of trouble."

Kyle gulped as my eyes narrowed, "Yes um, this is her right here." He nudged me forward, Amy blinked at me.

"Ooooh hi there," she giggled, "I'm Amy Shepard. Who are you?"

I cannot believe that Archer once had a crush on this ditz, "Jaye Falconer."

She stared at me, her grin disappearing, "Jaye? Is it really you? I can't believe it! Where's Archer?" She quickly glanced over my shoulder hopefully, which annoyed me even more.

I grit my teeth, "He's not coming, Amy, not ever."

A hand flew to her mouth, "Really? Oh I'm sorry, Jaye, I never thought that he would," tears started to form in her eyes, "I always thought that the two of you would come back."

"Amy," Kyle started, "Don't-,"

I gripped Amy's arm, "My mother, Amy, how's my mother?"

She blinked stupidly, "Mr. Lore is treating her like usual."

"What's 'like usual'?" I snapped.

"Badly," Amy pulled her arm out of my grip, "You know the Mr. Lore is on the other side, Jaye, when you did bad things, it impacted on her."

Her words froze my blood into ice, "I-."

"No, shut up, Jaye, you have to learn that what you do effects other people! It effected your mother, and it effected Archer too! Because of what you did, your mother is basically traumatised and Archer is de-,"

"_Shut up!_" I clamped a hand over her mouth, fear making my voice loud, "You weren't there, you weren't there!" Sobs clutched at my chest, "You weren't there!"

"Jaye, calm down," Kyle's arms were around me, dragging me off Amy, but Scorch managed to bite into his leg, making him yelp and release me. Quickly, Scorch ran over to me and stood in front of me, bristling and growling at Amy, before nudging me across the cavern.

I was halfway across the cavern before I bumped into Kev, he stared down at me, "Awake then, are you?" He eyed Scorch before beginning to set off again, "Archer's service will be held tomorrow. Don't cause too much trouble." I wanted to shout and scream at him but I clenched my fist and shut my mouth.

"He's not that bad, really," a musical voice greeted my ears, I looked up to see the beautiful woman in the blue gown, Frey, she stared down at me kindly with amazingly blue eyes. "He doesn't like to see you messed up like you are right now, so he thinks that if you let go of the past, it'll be for your benefit. And don't be too hard on Kyle either, he's trying his best to be your friend, Jaye," she turned her gaze down to Scorch, "I can see your flareon is fiercely loyal to you. Remind me to let you meet my vaporeon, Drifter, sometime." She gave me a bright smile and patted me on the head before floating off.

"Oh, hey fire girl," a new voice came from behind me, I turned to see Neo standing with a dragonair beside him. He smirked as I stared in awe at the pokemon, "Amazing, isn't he? Dragon pokemon will always be the best, though I suppose fire pokemon aren't that bad either."

"Wow," I breathed, walking towards them, Scorch trotted beside me, looking rather resentful that I was paying attention to someone else's pokemon. "Wow."

Neo eyed me warily, "I hope you aren't going to throw another spastic like you did yesterday. He doesn't like that."

I glared sharply at him before returning me attention to the dragonair, "What's his name? Does he have a name?"

Neo laughed, "Of course he does, can't go around calling him 'dragonair' all the time! I call him Aires." He patted the dragonair's head.

"Can I touch him?" I asked.

"You can try, but he doesn't really like strangers," seeing my crestfallen face, he grinned cheekily, "But let's call it a challenge."

"Alright," I rolled my sleeves up and faced the dragonair, "Let's see if you can withstand the power of Jaye!" I glanced down at my flareon to realise that it was laughing, at me! "Scorch! That's not very supportive of you."

Neo muttered something to dragonair, and the pokemon basically snickered, Neo smirked, "Alright then, Jaye, give it your best shot."

"Just you watch," I ran towards the dragonair as fast as I could, but Aires only stayed there until the very last moment before disappearing. "What? Hey!" I spun around to see Aires next to my pokemon, where I had started off. "Come back here, you!"

Neo rolled his eyes, "Your too headstrong, always rushing forwards when you can get an enemy from behind."

I eyeballed him, "What do you do? Stab them in the back?"

His grin wasn't all that pleasant, "If I have to."

I shivered, there were some seriously strange people in the cavern. I had to focus. I turned to the dragonair, "Scorch, hold it down." Obediently, my flareon stuck his paw onto Aires, confused how he was supposed to be able to actually hold the dragon pokemon. From behind me, Neo laughed. I let out a noise of frustration before pelting at full speed towards to the two pokemon. Aires pretended to look scared and panicked, but once again, he vanished at the last moment. "Gah!" I scanned the surrounds but he wasn't anywhere. My eyes fixated on Neo, who was point upwards.

Oh, he was in the sky. Great. I fumbled for my pokeballs only then realising that I had left them back where I was sleeping with my bag. I huffed, crossing my arms, this wasn't fair. The dragonair snickered again. "This isn't fair, Neo!" I exclaimed.

"Isn't it? I bet if I was the one trying to touch your flareon, you'd allow him to burn me as well," Neo raised an eyebrow. He had a point.

I stood there, getting more and more aggravated by the fact that the dragonair was in the air, where I couldn't catch it. If only I had remembered to bring my other pokemon with me, then I could use charizard and get there. Scorch looked at me rather apologetically. I didn't quite notice the whooshing sound behind me until and hand grabbed me and hoisted me up into the air, and on the back of a pidgeot. "Neo, what are you doing?" Kyle's voice rumbled from behind me.

"I'm giving her a challenge," Neo retorted, glaring. I had a feeling that these too didn't get along too well. "She was the one who wanted to touch Aires."

Kyle muttered something about dragon trainers, but then he turned to me, "You want to touch the dragonair, Jaye? He doesn't like strangers."

"Neo already told me that," I snapped before I remembered Frey's words about Kyle. I wasn't too ready to forgive him yet though, "Oh forget it, just help me out here would you? You're the one with the flying pokemon. Get me to that dragonair."

"Yes sir… I mean, ma'am," Kyle grinned, his pidgeot flew upwards, I blinked in confusion. "Higher, Swiftwing," he urged.

"Um Kyle? The dragonair isn't up that high," I turned to Kyle.

"Hmm? Oh don't worry, this may seem a bit scary at first but I don't think Neo would like to be responsible for the death of you," he grinned mischievously.

Realisation dawned on me, "Oh no you don't-," but it was too late, his pidgeot did a flip, which knocked me off the pokemon and sent me hurtling down towards the dragonair just below me. The wind was rushing through my hair, my eyes were drying and I heard the startled yell of Neo from below.

A familiar whisper came to my ear through the whistling of the air, "_Close your eyes, Jaye."_ Listening to the voice, I closed my eyes, this was going to be a hard landing, on the ground.

There was a soft thud. _Funny,_ I thought in my rather befuddled state, _the ground is softer than I thought it'd be._ I opened my eyes to a world of blue, and a slight noise of annoyance came from above, I looked up into the dragonair's face. Oh.

I wasn't dead.

There was huge ripple, and scared that I was going to fall again, I clung to the dragon pokemon with all my might as he flew back down to the ground. I slid off; I wasn't ever going to do something like that again.

"This was her challenge, so some kind of 'group effort'," Neo glared at Kyle.

Kyle ignored the dragon trainer, and grinned sheepishly at me, "Sorry about that Jaye."

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it Kyle."

Neo huffed, "Come on Aires. See you later, Jaye," he nodded to me, "And you as well, I suppose, loser."

I glanced between Kyle and Neo's back, "Does he really dislike you that much?"

Kyle laughed, "Well, I wouldn't say that I'm his favourite person, but we'd support each other in a fight, if it came to it."

"That's because you have to though," I said.

"Maybe I'll tell you the story then, if you forgive me," he said hopefully.

I sighed, "Fine, I forgive you already. There are just some things you've got to do."

"Yeah," he nodded, starting to head back to the small cavern where my pokemon were, "Alright then. Neo and I both came from the same place; we're both trainers of Willowwood town. Back when we were exiled, the head of the town was the only one who was really into the whole punishment thing; the rest of the town was rather against it. Thankfully, though, that's changed now – seeing as Willowwood is on the side of the Resistance. This was about seven years ago now, I was nine and Neo was ten when we were exiled together." He looked at me, "Trainers are always exiled in pairs, but I guess you know that by now, and they always become rivals and usually they stay as rivals."

_Usually, but there's always an exception_, I noted. Kyle continued, "I found this place first, but soon enough, Neo came stumbling in, both his pokemon and him were rather injured. He too, had a problem with the idea of letting go of the past. He'd been trying to save someone when they caught him and beat him up, but he managed to escape into that tunnel that I met you in. He owes me because I helped him, but he doesn't want to have to owe me anything because he's my rival."

"Oh," we'd reached the cavern, and I gathered my stuff together. "So, is that what you usually do? Stand by that tunnel and wait for other trainers to just appear out of nowhere, then you grab them and take them here?"

"You make me sound like some sort of kidnapper," Kyle said with mock resentment, "But I guess you could say that. Anyway, you should get ready, Old man Kon has requested that you, I and Neo go on a patrol to get resources from Juniper City today."

I frowned, "But that takes about a day's run!"

He shook his head, "We'll be taking the tunnels, that means we won't have to go around Mt. Ash to get there. We should be back here by midday tomorrow, if you ride your rapidash, Neo takes his dragonair and I take my pidgeot. The tunnels are wide enough for that if we stay in a straight line."

"I could ride my charizard," I said, he looked at my sceptically, "Or not… fine. Well, I'm pretty much ready as it is." I turned to Scorch, "I'm sorry, I know you hate being inside the pokeball, but I can't let you just run along behind us."

Scorch huffed, but did as he was told. I called out my rapidash, "Hey, Cinders, guess you and I will be going to quite a ride today."

"Oi, you two," Neo's voice called to us, "Are you going to hurry up? If you don't get a move on we'll be back by nightfall, and Kev would throw the biggest tantrum known to humankind."

Kyle grunted in response, but we both knew that Neo was right. I climbed onto my rapidash's back and Kyle summoned his pidgeot. I glanced at Amy as I passed her, she did not look back at me, but continued on with her work – a sour look on her face. I could hear Archer's laughter ringing just on the edge of hearing.

I squeezed my eyes shut, one more day, just one more day until I had to say goodbye to him forever.

* * *

-Somewhere in Raeonn-

I almost felt sorry for the kid, as his prison guard, I had formed some sort of attachment.

It wasn't mutual. His food lay untouched on the tray next to him; he'd turned himself away from it as much as his chains would let him. It was almost as if he was trying to deny its existence as to not give into the temptation. In his ill health, he looked even younger than he was.

Was he intending to starve himself?

I turned my gaze to his jolteon beside him, it had basically collapsed next to him but the kid couldn't do anything about it. I remember his eyes burning with pain and hatred when the boss wouldn't let it be healed. If he had a jolteon now, it must mean he started off with an eevee and he didn't seem the type to just be happy with such a pokemon. Rumour had it his partner-in-crime, the one the boss was trying so hard to capture, had a flareon.

Had they both started off with eevee?

The sight of it all – the weak kid and the jolteon was so pitiful. The boss wanted to break him, wanted the kid to join our side so that he could control him and eventually his friend.

"Hey," I tried to start up a conversation, "Why aren't you going to eat?"

His head swung around to glare at me, even in the weak state that he was in, his eyes still burned with fury and defiance. "The stronger I get," he said through forced teeth, "The faster the time comes when your boss tries to turn me to his side and train me to become his weapon to hurt pokemon trainers like me."

"So you intend to starve yourself to death instead?" I stared at him incredulously.

"I was going to die anyway if you people hadn't found me rescued me. You've already taken away the dignity of dying somewhere like there," the intensity of his hatred rose, "I'm not helping you people get Jaye as well."

"But what if it wasn't Jaye?"

"Jaye is all that matters," his voice dropped to a whisper, "I don't care about anything else."

"She thinks you're dead."

"I soon will be. It's better if she think I died an honourable death back in that cavern instead of rotting to death helplessly in a cell, listening to plans of her capture," his hand trailed to the jolteon's head and rested there. "It's better if she thinks I died fighting."

* * *

End Chapter 2.

Author's Note:

Okay, this was actually a really boring chapter. I'm sorry.

Hopefully the next one will be more exciting, with Jaye, Kyle and Neo heading off to get supplies from Juniper City, and the boss of the crime syndicate will do whatever it takes to keep Archer alive.

Poor Archer, I'm sorry you are getting so mistreated.

Please read and review. Reviews bring hope. :)

~ MFT


	3. Chapter 3

_We didn't get along at first._

_Scorch and I, that is – though I didn't exactly get along with Archer either. For the short time we travelled together after leaving Oakroot we only ever bickered and taunted each other when the other's Eevee decided to ignore our commands. We got sick of it easily and parted ways, and so I was left alone with Scorch. What I found amusing was that I seemed to get along with Archer's Spark better than my own Pokemon and visa versa._

_I thought that my own Pokemon was disobedient, rude and hot-headed. "Scorch," I said for the fiftieth time, my voice started to get marred with annoyance, "Could you _please _listen to me. After all, we're going to be together for quite sometime."_

_The Eevee let out a huff as if to say, _'_Are you kidding me?'_

_I sighed, I had wasted far to much patience on him as it was together, "Look, I know you'd probably be happier with Archer – but I'm afraid you're my Pokemon, so we're just going to have to sort it out. It's already night-time though, so I think we should just give it a rest for today." I turned away to set up camp and out of the corner of my eye I could see the Eevee sort of deflate in exhaustion and relief – had refusing to acknowledge me as its trainer really been that tiring?_

_A lump formed in my throat, how was I supposed to survive out here with a Pokemon that didn't even like me when I couldn't return home to my mother? Archer clearly had the more docile Eevee – Spark was so much gentler than her male counterpart. Archer could survive out here. I couldn't it. And it vexed me. _

_Hot tears of frustration started to well at my eyes and I roughly brushed a hand over them. I _would not cry_ in front of my disobedient, troublesome Pokemon. And I would rather be caught dead than admitting that I actually kind of missed Archer's company. I slipped into my sleeping bag after scarfing down a couple dozen berries – if they were poisonous then heck, my Pokemon may even feel a little bit remorseful. _

_The disappointment overcame my resistance though and I soon found myself pressing my face into the pillow of my sleeping bag, shaking like mad – trying to muffle the sobs in vain. After a couple minutes, a small rough tongue swiped at my cheek and I glanced up startled, peering at a small Eevee face through tears. _

_He flicked his tail as if to say, 'This doesn't make us friends or master and trainer, you got it? It's just rude to just leave a girl crying.' I snorted tearily – this Pokemon almost had too much character._

"_Alright then, we'll forget about that," I muttered, shuffling over so that the Scorch had a place to lie. I mock glared at him cheekily, "But we'll get back to it tomorrow." There was an eye roll. "So you're a bit more decent than I first thought, huh?"_

_He gave me a scandalised look, 'Of course!'_

* * *

There is nothing quite so exhilarating as the wind rushing through your hair as you ride atop of a rapidash galloping at full speed.

Of course, Kyle and Neo would differ with this opinion as the soared through the tunnels upon their pidgeot and dragonair, respectively. I hadn't realised how much I had missed the company of other humans, but now that I was with me it brought as much relief as it did pain as I realised the hole inside me and beside me could not be filled – not even with the companionship of thousands.

Neo's grey eyes met my own and almost softened a bit – I must've had some sort of lonely look on my face, so I quickly blanked it, but he flew down closer to my rapidash. "You don't have to hide it, Jaye," he said, it was almost too kind for Neo, really, "You can have plenty of friends in one life, but you as for your rival – there will never be a replacement. If it helps though, you can have Kyle – I won't miss him."

"Hey!" snapped the aforementioned Kyle, "I don't remember being yours to give away."

"_These two are funny,"_ an amused chuckle blended in with the pounding of Cinders' hooves on the hard ground – it was almost impossible to hear. _"Almost as funny as I am."_ Was, I corrected silently – almost as funny as you were. _"Always the optimist, Jaye."_

"We're going to have to get these tunnels checked out again," Kyle mused in a slightly worried tone, "Don't want one caving in – you can already see a few cracks. I'm sure Kev will know what to do about them." My gaze shot up to the ceiling – seeing the thin spiderweb of crack running through it. My heart jumped to my mouth, thudding almost as fast as the hooves on the ground.

"How much longer?" I choked out.

"Huh?" Kyle frowned, "About thirty minutes to an hour, why?" His head turned my way, "Hey Jaye, you don't look to well. Are you feeling alright?"

"Let's just keep moving," I forced out, "The faster, the better right?"

He looked even more suspicious but only said, "Yeah, let's pick up the pace a bit." He urged on his pidgeot, as did Neo and I followed suit. I squeezed my eyes shut, just wanting, wanting so much to get out of those tunnels as fast as I could. Bile fought it's way up to my throat and I leaned my head against my rapidash's neck, wishing the tunnel walls would disappear into nothingness as echoes from the past screamed in my head.

Why does time slow in moments of pain?

* * *

Kyle

"Is she asleep?"

It was Neo's voice, penetrating the long silence that bounced around the tunnel walls endlessly – and thank god for that. Silence was an utter killer. I turned my head to look at the girl riding the rapidash below us – her face pressed against its warm neck. Something had obviously upset her, I could hear it in her voice twenty minutes ago – perhaps it was the air, it was rather stuffy in these tunnels.

"Is it really kind to separate her from her memory of the other kid?" The dragon trainer asked, "She really seems to cling to it – it's almost like it's the way she reminds her that she's alive, because if she were dead at least he'd be there."

"That's exactly why Kevin thinks she needs to let go – because she'd rather be dead, or lost in some figment of the past – never moving forward, only looking back," I answered wearily. "You were quite clinging to that kind of memory when you first arrived at the resistance."

"But it's her rival this time, her best friend, she'll always feel like a part of her is missing," Neo argued.

"Then that hole needs a filling," I replied. "It can never be what was originally there – but hey it can be something else, like her duty to the resistance – to ensure that Archer's death didn't go unnoticed or without its revenge, like the many others that still need to be recognised."

"You're actually a really cruel person, aren't you?" Neo smiled grimly, "You're just good at hiding it. Man, I really wanted to meet that Archer kid – the two rebel trainers together."

"Not everything went as planned," I admitted, "I was shocked when I saw _Jaye Falconer_ stumble into the tunnel I watch – looked a bit more like a ghost than a human though. She went absolutely white when she first saw me." I looked back down at the girl, "I think this has been good for her – she's got a bit of colour back."

"If you say so," Neo glanced back up at the ceiling of the tunnel, "Those cracks are starting to get a bit wider. Kevin should definitely look at them before the next supply run. Maybe the syndicate found the tunnel and deliberately created these cracks as a death trap." He frowned as if realising something, glancing between Jaye and the cracks in the ceiling, "How did Archer Hawken die?"

I shrugged, "The only ones who know that are probably the syndicate and Jaye." I watched him stare at the ceiling, trying to clue into what he was thinking. "Wait, you aren't suggesting that… it was a cave in?" It would explain a lot – why Jaye had freaked out… and that was after I had mentioned the cracks in the ceiling, and it would explain why a lot of tunnels had simultaneously collapsed a few weeks ago. I met Neo's wide eyes, could it be?

"The rocks crushed him," it was a thin voice, rising from below us. "We found had stolen a blue-print of a pattern a few days earlier and we're trying to decipher its meaning. We were hiding out in a cave when we'd figured it out. It's the pattern of the cracks – made for the maximum amount of damage – brain injuries, spine injuries… death." Jaye paused in her story, her voice beginning to break a little. "That's when we heard voice – _their voices_ from one side of the cavern – the side we'd entered it, so we knew we had to go. Then as we were running we wondered how they had _found_ us and why they weren't coming from the other end and then… and then we looked up to the ceiling but we _knew_ what was there already. The pattern – they were herding us towards our deaths, or entrapment." She looked away from our eyes, "They had planned to get the two of us." She opened her mouth as if she were going to say more, but decided against it a second later and chose to end with, "But they didn't."

"I see," I said, softly, "Do you still have the blueprint?"

"Yeah," even from where I was sitting I could see her hands tremble as she reached into her bag and pulled out a folder, I flew lower to meet her and take it. "I was trying to look before, but the ceiling was too far away. Perhaps… you can take a look." I grimly nodded, opening to folder to see the pattern – my eyes met Neo's and I could see the same fear in his eyes that I felt in myself before I urged Pidgeot carefully up to the ceiling.

One mistake, one tiny mistake, and the world could blow up.

* * *

-Somewhere in Raeonn-

_Click, click, click_. My shoes tapped against the floor – _click, click, click._ I had walked down to the cells so many times that I had counted the number of taps I made. When I was in a better mood, when things were successful, it took approximately seven hundred and thirty clicks. When I was enraged it took six hundred and ninety. Today was one of those six hundred and ninety days.

The prisoner was not eating and it was only a matter of days before he wasted away.

I had caught one of the most potentially perfect weapons and I was not going to let that slip away so easily.

The prison guard hurriedly saluted me, muttering under his voice, "I told 'im, sir, I told 'im if 'e weren't gonna eat 'is food there'd be consequences. 'E ignored me, sir, and went back to sleep."

"Oh shut up, you blithering idiot," I snapped. Incompetent guards – couldn't threaten properly if you paid them. Just like incompetent retrievers – though they had managed to get the boy they'd been unable to get the girl and the blueprints as well, leading to yet another wild chase. I undid the chains on the cell door with a clang and stepped inside.

There he was – resting against the wall with his injured jolteon resting on his lap, both of them dying. His face was white as sheet ad gaunt, with trickles of sweat running down his cheeks, his breaths were heavy and his hair was plastered to his forehead. It was even smaller and frailer than before. So lifeless compared to the boy I had met many years previously. I sneered; well I wouldn't let them die quite so peacefully. If the only option turned out to be death, it would be the death of being ripped apart by my own hands. However, there still could be a chance. I kicked his rib, causing him to groan. Before he would curse and spit and pull against his chains to try to get to me, to kill me. But he didn't even have the energy or willpower left for that anymore.

He wanted to die to save his little friend.

Too bad.

I yanked his head up by his hair to face me, "Think I would _let you_just die? I don't think so. You've caused me much trouble over the years, I only think it's fair that it's repayed."

"Make me," His voice was hoarse and barely audible, "I will never work for the likes of you. Never."

I laughed harshly, "I didn't say you had to be _willing_. I heard you were refusing to eat. Well I have a plan B, I always have a plan B – if you refuse to eat the food yourself, then we'll just have to inject the nutrients into you. You'll be fully conscious so you can feel the pain and the helplessness as you're unable to do anything about it, and then afterwards, we'll put you under and _change _you." He watched with glee as the prisoner's eyes opened with horror. "Brings back some bad memories, doesn't it – if you can even remember anything of those seven days. That's a comparatively short time compared to what you have coming up."

"_Please_, I'm_ begging _you," he whimpered, "If you have even the slightest scrap of _mercy_, just let me _die._"

I pretended to consider it for a few seconds and shook my head, "Sorry, kid – I don't believe in… what was it again? Oh yes, mercy." I clicked my fingers and watched as the boy weakly struggled to get away from the men filing in with the needles.

Not even his jolteon could save him now.

* * *

Jaye

I held my breath as Kyle examined the cracks in the ceiling.

This couldn't be happening _again_, the very thought sent past shocks through my system – my legs weak, my breath raspy and thin and when I closed my eyes I could rocks falling, tumbling, crushing. Would I lose two more people this time? Would it be Kyle shoving the blueprints into my hand and telling me to run, run and never look back, would it be Neo's grey eyes meeting mine, full of fear, before gritting his teeth and nodding before the ground gave way? How far would I run this time?

And after what seemed like forever, Kyle pulled away from the roof – my heart thudded in my throat, pounded in my head. He flew back to us, shaking his head, "No, we're safe. But that was too close – once we get back we need to inform the others right away, make sure everyone knows what to look for in the tunnels." He let out a shaky breath, "Let's just keep moving and get these supplies as soon as possible, I don't want another scare like that today. We're only about twenty minutes away from Juniper City. One things for certain… we have to stop the syndicate before the create anything else like this," he stared at the blueprints in disbelief and horror. "How they even managed to come up with this is… beyond me."

"Let's keep moving then," Neo replied tightly, "And pray that the pattern doesn't suddenly appear up ahead. Kyle, you fly close to the ceiling to make sure of that – as soon as we see it, we turn back."

It seemed like the only choice, and Kyle knew it, "Kevin won't be happy – our scouting bands need medical packs, we only have one or two left, and Gerry has a habit of getting hurt."

"He'd be even less impressed if we managed to get ourselves killed and lose the blueprints in the process."

"Let's just keep moving for now," I interjected, "We'll decide what to do if we get to that, for now I, for one, just want to get out of these blasted tunnels." The two agreed and on went galloped, with as much speed as possible, towards Juniper City.

* * *

Chapter 3 end.

Author's note:

So yes, alright, it's been a heck of a long time. School, work, sports. So I just popped onto fanfiction and I was like 'The Oncoming Storm? Forgot what that was about.' So I read it and it inspired me to write another chapter.

Yes, it is a bit different than what I had planned because, well, I don't even remember what I had planned – but oh well.

:D

Please read and review.

~MFT


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